1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to a water-saving single temperature or mixing faucet, especially for kitchen sinks and bathroom basins, comprising a movable spout controlling the "open" and "closed" states of the faucet and also to an attachment for converting standard mixing faucets into such water-saving mixing faucets.
2. Prior Art
Mixing faucets are an essential component of modern kitchens and bathrooms, and much thought and ingenuity has been invested in attempts to improve their design and make them more convenient to use. An important part of the convenience, in particular, of a kitchen sink, is a movable spout which can be brought over a particular section of the sink, or can be swung out of the way, so as not to interfere, if not needed. The main object of the above-mentioned efforts at improvement have been directed towards improving such a spout, with two major lines of approach and development: (1) To control, by swiveling of the spout, the flow rate in a continuous range from zero to maximum flow, but not the water temperature (e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 1,790,625); and (2) to control, by swiveling of the spout, both the flow rate and the water temperature (e.g., U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,181,630 and 2,504,610). All these known solutions suffer from two main drawbacks: they are complicated, requiring closely fitting pistons, cams, rollers, multiple-start threads and similar components which are both relatively expensive and failure-prone, especially when used with mineral-rich water. Most important, said solutions forego the great convenience of directing a certain, preset flow at a certain, preset temperature across the entire area of the sink, as any change in the angular portion of the spout will also change either the flow rate or both the flow rate and the temperature, which means that very hot water is obtainably only, say, on the right side of the sink, cold water only on the left, and medium temperatures only in the middle. Flow control, too, is, of course, a function of spout position in said prior art embodiments. Another disadvantage of the known mixing faucets is the fact that the active components of these faucets cannot be fitted to existing mixing faucets of the conventional type.